Black sportspeople around the world have voiced their feelings about the police brutality, and the ongoing protests in the United States.
LA Lakers’ LeBron James has been vocal for many years about police brutality -- and has been celebrated alongside Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul for their .
They said at the time, “We stand before you as fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, uncles, and in my case, as an African-American man and the nephew of a police officer, who is one of the hundreds of thousands of great officers serving this country. But Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile — this is also our reality.”
This week, amid sustained protests around the United States, LeBron James took to twitter to highlight why it’s so important for him to keep speaking out.
He was referring to 2018 editorial by Laura Ingraham, where she savagely chastised James and fellow basketballer Kevin Durant - telling them to “shut up and dribble” - for weighing into talk about Colin Kaepenick’s ‘take a knee’ protest that swept through the NFL, and the athletes’ criticism of Donald Trump at the time.
She said: “It's always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid 100 million dollars a year to bounce a ball. Oh, and LeBron and Kevin. You're great players, but no one voted for you. Millions elected Trump to be their coach. So keep the political commentary to yourself, or someone once said, Shut up and dribble,” Ingrham said on the program.
James responded on Twitter to the double standard. He also said, “And to my people don’t worry, I won’t stop until I see CHANGE.”
LeBron James, one of the highest paid athletes in the world and a giant of the NBA, was a hero of George Floyd. During his memorial service on Thursday, his nephew, Brandon Williams, talked of the admiration Floyd had for the Lakers star.
William said, "When the Cavaliers came back on the Golden State Warriors in the Finals, and I remember the very first phone call. I told him, 'You're too happy. You sound like you won a championship.' "
And Williams says Floyd responded: "Man, you know how I feel about LeBron. I did win a championship."
"I'm not of age to vote. But it's in your hands to vote for my future"
Since the death of George Floyd in police custody, a number of black sportspeople in the US and abroad have shared their thoughts on police brutality in America.
Burgeoning tennis star Coco Gauff spoke at the Black Lives Matter protests in Delray, Florida.
She said, "I am here with my grandma. I think it's sad that I'm here protesting the same thing that she did 50 plus years ago."
"I was eight years old when Trayvon Martin was killed. So why am I here at 16 still demanding change?"
Gauff said she'd spent much of the week talking to her non-black friends about how to be good allies, and told the crowd, "I'm not of age to vote. But it's in your hands to vote for my future"
Michael Jordan, who rarely weighs into political matters - infamously saying years ago that "Republicans buy sneakers too" as a means of explaining his lack of political engagement - made a strong statement over social media earlier this week.
Alongside Jordan were golfer Tiger Woods, French footballer Marcus Thuram and many others.
Weston McKennie, who plays for the US soccer men's national team and FC Schalke 04, over the weekend wore a black armband labelled ‘Justice for George Floyd’ . The referee asked him to take off the armband, because political statements aren’t allowed on matchday.
“I was like, ‘I’m not taking it off’.There’s a rule in the league that you can’t make political statements. ‘But I mean, if you really, really look at this as a political statement, then I don’t know what to tell you,” McKennie told .
Later in the week, McKennie posted a video captioned ‘Enough is Enough’. The video is mixed with scenes of police brutality toward African Americans, alongside a number of sportspeople repeating McKennie’s line of: ‘Enough is Enough’.
And these sentiments have been echoed in Australia. On Mabo Day, Australian basketball captain and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Patty Mills let his thoughts on protests be known over social media in his tribute to Eddie Mabo, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr.
Mills called them “The Iconic M’s created history.”
